Bengaluru, April 11: Internet commerce unicorn Meesho has downsized its grocery vertical Meesho SuperStore (formerly Farmiso) in an attempt to drive efficiency. While the company did not disclose the number of laid-off employees, a source told BusinessLine that 150 employees across roles were laid off today.
“As we look to boost efficiencies in the light of the integration, a small number of full-time roles and certain third-party positions on six-month contracts at Meesho Superstore were reassessed to remove redundancies with the core business. To support those impacted by this restructuring, Meesho is offering severance packages and outplacement assistance to help them secure new opportunities outside the company,” said the company in an official statement on Monday. These lay-offs have not impacted any positions at the core Meesho marketplace business, where the company continues to hire talent.
BusinessLine had reported on April 8 that Meesho is downsizing its grocery vertical. Last week, in a LinkedIn post, Aishwarya Garg, City Manager at Meesho, claimed that many employees were pressurised to voluntarily resign from the vertical, even as the company continues to hire for other segments. Comments on the posts supported the City Manager’s narrative, with one former employee claiming that he was asked to leave abruptly within four months of joining. Garg’s LinkedIn post was, however, deleted by April 8 evening.
Meesho is not the only company downsizing. In the past few months, various well-funded start-ups such as Unacademy, Lido Learning and Trell, have also laid-off employees as their business focus changed.
Meesho Superstore
Meesho Superstore (Farmiso) was started as a pilot in Karnataka about nine months ago. With this foray, the company’s aim was to meet consumer demand for daily essentials in Tier 2+ markets. The offering is currently available in six States – Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh – with plans to make it available in 12 States by the end of 2022.
Last week, Meesho announced that the company is integrating the grocery business within the core app to provide users a unified shopping experience, and to drive stronger synergies across areas such as customer acquisition, technology, product and talent. Meesho Superstore provides 500 products across categories such as fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, groceries, home care, and packaged food, among others.
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